Stafford Rangers v Leek Town

REPORT

Stafford Rangers suffered a 2-0 defeat to Leek Town at Marston Road in their penultimate pre-season game.

Dan Trickett-Smith’s first-minute strike and Tom Carr’s second-half addition was enough to see the away side over the line.

The Rangers will hope to bounce back against local-rivals Hednesford next Saturday before beginning the Northern Premier League season against Lancaster the following week.

Leek showed their quality off the ball throughout, with their fast play and movement off the ball featuring in abundance throughout the first-half. The 2-0 win means that Leek have now hit five without reply against the Rangers in their last two visits as the Blues beat the Boro 3-0 in a Staffordshire Senior Cup quarter-final last season.

Trickett-Smith’s first-minute opener was a fantastic finish – lobbing Cameron Belford in goal from the right side of the box – although the problem will be how he came to be unchallenged and get behind the line easily. The goalscorer looked for a second not long after, but headed straight at Belford in net.

Nathan Blissett tried his luck with an ambitious effort on the turn from afar just after ten minutes played, before Ross Davidson shot wide for Leek after great build up play.

Joe Willis’ rocket off a shot seemed destined for the top left corner but was kept out well for a corner which led to nothing, and great build-up play was seen again from the away side as striker Rob Stevenson shot off-target.

Ethan Stewart headed over from a corner just after the half-hour mark while Tom Tonks headed wide before half-time from Ben Woods’ cross. Prior to that Tom Carr showed his quality on the ball dribbling well, but teammate and striker Stevenson was unable to hit the target with his effort.

In the second 45, Ethan Morgan shot straight at the Leek keeper before Tom Tonks and Joe Willis linked up well earning a corner.

Woods found the goalkeeper’s gloves with his header while Blissett went wide with his effort which was the best opportunity the home side were presented with. Likewise, Kaiman Anderson was unable to cause problems with his header before Joe Willis’ free-kick effort sailed over the goal.

Carr then sealed the away win for Leek with a great strike into the left-side of the goal, and again was allowed to force his way through the defence with his run. Results meaningless still at this stage of the new season, but Matt Hill’s side will hope for a better time against the Pitmen next weekend in their final pre-season fixture.